JP8-135713A discloses a shock absorber. This shock absorber includes a cylinder, a piston rod inserted axially movable within the cylinder, and an annularly shaped piston retained on an outer circumference of the piston rod. The piston is slidably in contact with an inner circumference surface of the cylinder, and partitions two chambers in which working fluid is filled within the cylinder.
A passage that communicates the two chambers, a window provided at an outlet of the passage, and a valve seat surrounding the window are formed in the piston. At least one annular plate shaped leaf valve is stacked on the piston, and an outer circumference part of the leaf valve is made detachable from a seat surface of the valve seat. When external force is applied to the shock absorber and the piston moves inside the cylinder together with the piston rod, the working fluid in one of the chambers to which pressure is applied by the piston pushes open the leaf valve, flows through the passage and moves to the other chamber. As a result, the shock absorber generates damping force caused by resistance of the leaf valve when the working fluid passes through the passage.